2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a bioderived monomer that when utilized in polyester resins provides a rigid monomer motif similar to terephthalic acid (TPA). Resulting furan-based polyesters typically have DSC measured melting points about 40-50° C. below the corresponding terephthalic acid counterpart, for example while the melting point of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) is about 229° C., the melting point of poly(trimethylene-2,5 furandicarboxylate) (PTF) is about 179° C. Furthermore, while PTT demonstrates a melting point at about 229° C. at 10° C./min heating rate as measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), PTF shows nearly no melting at 10° C./min heating rate, indicative of a reduced ability to crystallize at this heating rate of 10° C./min. However, upon decreasing the heating/cooling rate from 10° C./min to 5° C./min and further to 1° C./min, the DSC scans of PTF shows a developing melting endotherm at about 175-179° C. (ΔHm is less than 1 at 10° C./min; about 6.3 J/g at 5° C./min; and about 42 J/g at 1° C./min), thereby indicating that the ability of PTF to crystallize is inversely proportional to the heating rate. However, little is known regarding increasing crystallization rate of PTF by nucleated crystallization.
Hence, there is a need for new compositions comprising PTF with improved rate of crystallization.